They Grow So Fast
by illogical squeeks
Summary: Elizabeth's hate for Cutler Beckett runs into their childhood, a time when he pulled her pigtails and called her 'Smellizabeth'... oh my! Just a funny little fiction I made when bored. Also includes some childhood tales of other characters.
1. Chapter the First

**They Grow So Fast...**

The upper-class society of Britain have always stuck together – more for the sake of having contacts and allies then friendship – and while parents discuss important matters, children are often left in each others companies, and sometimes that can be pretty futile...

----------

_Smellizabeth_, a young Cutler Beckett mouthed at Elizabeth Swann across the dining table. She frowned at him, and kicked his foot as hard as she could in her small, girly, strap-up (but surprisingly hard) shoes. Cutler tried not to let it show on his face as the maid laid down another plate of food in front of them both.

"Elizabeth, don't take two sandwiches, take one at a time," Weatherby Swann scolded her. She looked from one of her hands to the other, each one containing a sandwich, and then put one back. Weatherby sighed. "Just... oh, never mind."

"But daddy, why can't-" At this point, Cutler decided to put into motion a revenge attack on her ankle, which stung like anything. She tucked her legs away from him, glaring at him.

"Elizabeth?" Her father asked, giving her a funny look.

"Sorry, daddy," She said through gritted teeth, shooting a look of pure hate at Cutler. He just licked some jam off of a finger, and earned a reprimanding from his mother. "I was _saying_... why can't we take two at a time?" She asked, cocking her head, and shooting a '_ha-ha_' smug, smiling look at Cutler as he was told off.

"It's not... proper, dear." Weatherby said, with a smile at his daughter.

"Not proper what?" Elizabeth asked, feeling like being awkward because Cutler was annoying her, and she was in a mean mood.

"Not proper... uh, manners." Weatherby Swann waved his hand at his daughter, "Elizabeth, daddy has to talk to Mr Beckett now, you talk to Cutter."

"Cutler." Muttered Cutler Beckett, irritated. As his parents turned to speak to Weatherby, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and pulled a hideous face at Elizabeth.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth wailed. He turned around, frowning. When he looked over to Cutler, he was sitting there, smiling like a little angel, playing the original blonde-haired boy. Elizabeth glared at him.

"Sorry, dear, I meant Cutler... I always get it wrong," he said with his kind smile.

"But that's not what I-" Elizabeth started, but her father was already back to talking about boring _politics_ with the other Beckett's. They only saw each other about once a year, but it still annoyed Elizabeth no end. She went back to glaring at Cutler, who crossed his eyes at her. And he was quite a few years older then her too!

God, she hated that boy.

----------

"Cutler, doesn't Elizabeth look _nice_?" His mother asked him, giving him a big, lipsticky smile. God, why did she have to choose _this_ moment to suddenly start a conversation with him? She could go months without saying anything to him; he'd been pretty much raised by a nanny.

"She looks _lovely_," He managed to force out.

"_Thank you_, Cutler." Elizabeth replied, with a big, false smile, which slipped off of her face the moment Cutler's mother turned away. Cutler frowned at her, and then walked off. Posh dinner parties were the worst. And now that Cutler was a teenager, he was expected to hang around making _connections_ with people, instead of playing with her, which at least had been company.

Though that time they'd played hide and seek in the middle of a ball and she had ended up chasing Beckett on her hands and knees under the tables and had accidentally knocked down a huge ice sculpture had gotten her into immense trouble.

And that time Cutler told her about the 'don't touch the floor' game, in which they could only stand on rugs, chairs, and anything that wasn't the floor (well, duh) and then he'd started off a game of tag and they'd collapsed half of the nursery as they ran around on tabletops and so on.

And in that particular game, Cutler ended up running across the top of her dolls house, and half smashing it to _bits_.

She pulled a face at his back, and then went off to find Mary, a girl who was one year younger then her, and quite divvy, but nice most of the time.

----------

"Yeah... y'know, I was born on board a ship during a typhoon," Jack Teague said, to a bunch of Port Royale boys, who were listening to his tale, agog. "I've got seawater running through my veins. My dad's a real-life pirate, you know, and the best there is. I had to operate a cannon during a sea-battle once, you know – it was really difficult, but one of my cannon balls got the other ship right in the rudder! Sent her right down!"

Complete and utter garbage, of course. And firing a cannon at a rudder of a ship was pretty much impossible from the side. But the scruffy young boys all nodded, absolutely fascinated by the smooth-talking boy from the sea's stories...

----------

Young William Turner stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he steadied the hammer carefully, being careful with his tongs and white-hot iron, ready to stamp the insignia of Port Royale on a horse's bit. The man who had taken him as his apprentice shook his head, and carefully corrected him.

Will would usually have been annoyed at the corrections he was always accumulating, when suddenly... It seemed to work. The grip on his hammer seemed right. And he knew, then and there, that he would be a blacksmith. A good one.

----------

"Cutler! Play with me!" Elizabeth ordered, pulling on his jacket lapel. He looked down at her from the desk he was sitting on, then went back to reading his book, turning the page slowly. "_Cutler_!"

"Elizabeth, go away!" He snapped at her, "I'm _trying_ to read!"

"But I want to play! I'll tell daddy!" She said, folding her arms. He gave her a long-suffering look, before smiling, all too suddenly. He marked his page, and closed it.

"Okay, here's a game. It's called 'whoever is silent for longest wins'..."

----------

"Elizabeth? Why are you being so quiet all of a sudden?" Her father asked at dinner. She shot him an alarmed look, and then shrugged her shoulders, nonchalantly.

"And you, Cutler." His mother said, deciding that she should pretend to notice something about her son so that she didn't look like she didn't know him at all. (Which she didn't.) (Know him at all, that is.)

Cutler and Elizabeth looked at each other, and then towards their parents. Shrugging simultaneously, they went on to eating. Cutler kicked Elizabeth under the table, nearly making her spit all of her food back onto her plate.

"That's cheating!" She exclaimed, and then groaned and closed her eyes, Cutler's smug smile etched all over her brain.

* * *

**NB:** Don't ask how on earth this would work. Just enjoy the fun, fluffy little fiction like a gooood reader. Reviews would be most appreciated... Thank you and ta ta for now.


	2. Dollshouse Drama

**They Grow So Fast...**

"Boom! _Schhhschhlllschhh..._ Help, man overboard, man overboard!" Jack Teage pushed one of his toy boats into the other. He was sitting on the pavement outside a bar in Tortuga; his father had told him to _wait right here, play with your toys like a good boy, and don't come inside, and don't leave this spot!_ While he went to his 'business meeting'. "Bam, bam, bam..."

"I like your boat." A boy said to him. He looked upwards, and saw a boy who looked quite a few years older then him looking down at his toys.

"I know," Jack said, "Everyone likes my boat. This one was made by a carpenter in Switzerland, one of the best carpenters in the world, and my dad brought it back for me, did you know that once during a sea-battle I-?"

A teenage Hector Barbossa leaned down and picked the toy boat up, inspecting it. The other one was a crappy one which looked like it had been made by a child. In fact, Hector suspected Jack had made it. Since when was a wooden box with 'SHUP' written on the side in wonky letters a ship?

"Can I have it?" Hector asked.

"No!" Jack said crossly, "It's my favourite!"

"How about your other one?"

"That's my _second_ favourite!" Jack stuck his chin out. Hector looked down at the ship he was carrying, and then turned and ran off through the crowded streets. Jack blinked for a moment, before scrambling to his feet, and chasing after him through the busy city, dodging around carts and wenches and beggars, running after the boy.

"You come back here!" He shouted, "That's my _ship_!"

----------

"Umm..." Elizabeth put her finger on her chin as she thought. It was her turn to choose the game that they played, and Cutler Beckett and James Norrington were not looking forwards to it. "Let's play with the dolls house!"

"Oh _no_..." Cutler said, but the maid smiled at them.

"Okay! I'll set it all up for you," She trotted off to the corner, to bring the old dolls house out into the middle of the room.

"But I don't want to play with it, and – why does it have a big hole in the roof?" James said, pointing at said hole. Elizabeth suddenly glowered at Cutler, who looked as innocent as he could.

"Oh, I don't know – some _idiot_ must have _stepped on it_!" She replied fiercely. Soon the house was set up, and she trotted up to it keenly, with James and Cutler exchanging horrified looks behind her. "Okay, I'll be the daughters, and the daddy, James you can be the son and the stable boy, and Cutler, you be the servants and the mummy."

"The... _mummy_?" Cutler asked, as Elizabeth held up the doll. "Why don't _you_ be her?"

"No!" Elizabeth went pink and forced the doll into Cutler's hands, "_You_ be the mummy!" I think you could work out a lot of physcology from watching these children play in the dolls house.

"Okay... well mummy's doing her hair." Cutler said, shoving her onto a dressing table. Then he picked up the waiter. "And the waiter – oops!" He said, throwing the waiter across the room. Elizabeth frowned.

"I didn't know waiters did that..." James Norrington watched the waiter bounce off of the wall, and roll across the floor.

"Our waiter had a heart attack and had to go away." Cutler said.

"Okay..." Elizabeth said, shooting him a frowny look. "Well daddy is tucking in his daughter, goodnight daughter, kissy kiss." She said, making the daddy doll pull the sheets up over the little girl, "And goodnight son," She made him do the same thing.

"But fathers don't do that..." Cutler said. "This is what happens," He picked up a maid doll which he was using as nanny, and then made her open the door. "Time for your nightly cod-liver oil!" He made her say in a raspy voice.

"Ugh!" Elizabeth said, "I _hate_ cod-liver oil!" On this, all three could agree. James was beginning to feel a little bit left out, but he wasn't sure what to do. He put the stable boy in the stable, picked up the son, and made him jump up and down on the bed.

"Bad boy!" Cutler made the nanny say, and then she pushed the son out of the window. James laughed.

"Nannies _don't_ do that!" Elizabeth said crossly.

"How would you know?" Cutler said spookily, "You've never had one! Nannies are the worst people in the world... They force cod-liver oil into you until you're sick, and scrub you so hard your skin goes red... And-"

"Shut up!" Elizabeth glared at him. "_I_ might have a nanny soon!"

"Then you had better watch out, Elizabeth..." Cutler said, making the nanny doll float through the air towards her like a ghost. "Whoo! Whoo!"

"Stop being stupid!" Elizabeth snatched the doll off of him and put her in the kitchen, cooking. "You have to play _properly_!" She moved the daddy doll across the hallway into the main bedroom, where the mummy doll was still applying make up. "Hello dear, time for bed." She made him say in a deep voice.

"Don't interrupt me!" Cutler made the mummy doll say in a scolding tone, "And if it's time for bed, go to your room!"

"This _is_ my room!" Elizabeth made the daddy doll say, trying not to make him sound too cross.

"So then where's my room?" Cutler made the mummy doll ask.

"_Here_! Cutler, mummies and daddies sleep in the same room!" Elizabeth hissed at him.

"_Mine_ don't!" Cutler protested.

"Mine do..." James said, who was quite mild-mannered as a child, and had been overrun by the loud, bossy voices of Elizabeth and Cutler.

"Well, once I saw mother sleeping here," Cutler said, moving her into the stable. "Like this..." He pushed the stable boy on top of her.

"Why was she sleeping underneath the stable boy?" Asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know..." Cutler shrugged. James was giving an odd look to Cutler, with the slight feeling that he understood why. But some children could be extremely short-sighted, especially when it came to infidelity.

"Well... anyway," Elizabeth said hastily, trying to move the game on, "Then the girl gets up in the night for a drink of water..."

"And the nanny is waiting!" Cutler pushed her up through the stairs. "What are you doing out of bed?" He made her say, "This calls for _punishment_!" Then he grabbed the daughter doll and shoved her head into the toilet.

"...Uh?!" Elizabeth glared at Cutler. "Stop being _stupid_!" She hissed. "Oh, what's the point, you only ruin the game anyway," She said tartly, snapping the dolls house shut.

----------

"Do you want a flower?" James asked Elizabeth shyly.

"No." She replied. James cocked his head.

"Okay!" He said, throwing the flower over his shoulder. "Let's go play hide and seek!" They both ran off together. That is what young love is like...

* * *

**NB:** East Coastie liked the idea of Jack and Barbossa meeting... so here it is. The dolls house sequence was a lot longer then I'd planned it... but oh well. You know what? I might just carry on making these when I have time to spare. It's sort of fun. Toodle pip. 


	3. The Garden Party I

**They Grow So Fast...**

"Hey, Smelly!" Elizabeth ground her teeth as she heard Cutler calling her by the lovely nickname he'd given her. She turned around, but couldn't see him. She was about to go back to reading her book, when... "Hey, Smelly!" She turned again, but there was still no Cutler.

She stood up from the tree she was sitting besides, and glanced around, still not able to see Cutler anywhere. Then she saw him; he was running around with a kite, which swayed and bobbed in the wind. Her eyes widened. It was a _beautiful_ kite.

"Can I have a go?!" She asked, trotting up to him. He pulled on the string. They were at a garden party, and the kids had all been dumped in the back garden, out of the way. This included James Norrington, Cutler Beckett, Elizabeth Swann, and William Turner had also been invited, because he'd kept friends with Elizabeth after the rescue.

"No," He said, "You'll only let it blow into a-" Before he could finish, his kite blew into a tree. He frowned. Elizabeth giggled.

"Oh, in that case..." She said, turning away from him.

"Wait! Can you help me get the kite back down? Smellizabeth!" He ran up behind her. "Please?" She folded her arms. "I'll... I'll stop calling you Smelly!" He said. She perked up. That was an excellent deal.

"Okay!" She agreed, "I'll stand on your shoulders, and then I can reach the kite!"

"Why do you get to be the one standing on me?" Cutler asked.

"I'm lighter then you. And smaller." Elizabeth said, airily. Then she paused. "Actually, I don't think I'm _smaller_ then you..."

"I'll go on the bottom." Cutler muttered.

----------

"Stop moving about!" Elizabeth snapped at Cutler, who was underneath her.

"I'm not!" He said, as Elizabeth's shoes dug deep into his shoulders.

"Stop looking up my skirt!"

"I'm _not_!" Cutler protested, his head shaking making them both sway to the side. Elizabeth reached upwards, her arm nearly catching the edge of the kite, but still just out of reach.

"Just a bit more!" She called down to him.

"What do you mean, just a bit more?" Cutler asked, "You want me to suddenly grow a couple of inches or something?!" Just then, the edge of her finger caught on the kite.

"Got it!" She said triumphantly, before they both fell down in a heap.

----------

"Thank you Smelly!" Cutler replied with a smile, before skipping off with his kite. Elizabeth fumed.

----------

"Hello Elizabeth... you look nice," James said, beaming at her.

"Hi James." Elizabeth said lightly, "And no, I don't, Cutler ruined my dress." She walked off to find Will, who was climbing trees at the end of the garden. James straightened his jacket, before running after her.

"Hi Elizabeth!" Will said with a smile, from the top of the apple tree. "Do you want to come climbing?" Elizabeth nodded, and pulling up her skirts, grabbed a hold of a branch and scurried up the tree. James was about to say something about, _Um, you're not meant to, well, climb those trees, they're part of the orchard..._ But then he thought better of it. He looked around at the other kids. None of them sparked his interest.

"Can I come too?" James asked.

"There isn't enough room." Elizabeth said, sitting on a branch. She turned and started talking to Will. James couldn't find a way into the conversation, so he just edged away.

----------

Jack Teague and a rabble of boys were gathered around a spot at the tall, iron fence that surrounded the garden party that was happening. Amongst them, you might recognize Pintell, Ragetti, and some other future-members of the _Black Pearl_.

"Can you smell that turkey?" Jack asked, licking his lips.

"Yeah, yeah," Agreed the bunch of boys. Ragetti raised a hand.

"But Jack... how're we going to get it?" He asked. Jack sighed impatiently.

"We are going to go in there, Rag, and take it."

"But... isn't that _stealing_?" Ragetti asked, cocking his head.

"No, Ragetti, it's _taking_. Look, it's what you're _meant_ to do at garden parties. It's why they call it a 'party', right? Because they're 'parting' with their food. To help the poor, i.e., us." Jack explained.

"Is that _true_, Jack?" Asked the only girl of their group. Jack turned towards Anamaria, with a small smile. She was the only one generally brainy enough to work out that not everything that came out of Jack's mouth was one hundred percent honest.

"Of course it is, Ana! Would I _lie_ to _you_?" He said.

"Yes," She muttered. But she was hungry, and that food certainly smelled nice, so she decided she'd help them out anyway.

"Right, lads," Jack said, rubbing his hands together. "Here's what to do... And I have an _extra special_ mission for _you_, Ana..."

----------

Cutler Beckett was wandering down the path towards the dinner table when he was stopped by a quite scruffy-looking girl. He frowned at her. What was she doing here?

_So, I'm the distraction for the kids, eh?_ Ana thought, watching Cutler trotting down the path. He stopped in front of her. She thought for a minute, wondering what to do. Obviously, Jack had picked _her_, the only girl, for a reason...

"Do you want a kiss?" She asked him.

"No..." Cutler said, wrinkling his nose.

"_Why not?!_" Anamaria demanded, grabbing a hold of him by the ear and shaking him a couple of times. She didn't think she was unattractive or anything, jeesh!

"Ouch! Let go!" Cutler whined, "I'll let you kiss me if you _really_ want to..." Ana didn't. Really. But the things she'd do for that Jack! She frowned at him for a minute. He twisted out of her grip and glowered at her.

And thus... Anamaria and Cutler Beckett both had their first ever kiss. With each other. How sweet and... disturbing.

----------

Elizabeth was sitting down, reading a book, when she heard someone thudding onto the ground next to her. She turned, and looked at Cutler, who looked a cross between horrified and shell-shocked.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, pulling on his sleeve.

"_Perfect_. Now never mention this conversation again!" He snapped.

"Um... alright..."

* * *

**NB:** Ooer. This one's a two-parter because I feel like it! In fact, it may even be three... The whole gang are united! Yeeha! Who knows what trouble this could lead to? Though I'm afraid I couldn't find a way to work Barbossa in. By the way, I defenitely do _not_ authorize any shipping of Cutler and Anamaria. That was just... more harmless little fluff.

Next up: Jack's devious little plan, does it fail or does it succeed? Will they be caught? Will Anamaria remember this moment in the future when they're going against each other? And for some reason, I worked an unreasonable amount of James Norrington pity into this one. I've always felt bad for him.

Anyway. Ta ta for now...


	4. The Garden Party II

**They Grow So Fast...**

Distracting the adults? Pah, easy peasy. Jack Teague wasn't worried about this at all. After they'd all given each other boosts over the fence, Jack Teague was left outside, being the last one, he had nobody to boost him. His plan had been simple enough; he knew enough about garden party decor for this plan to work. He had then snuck over to the gate, and slipped inside.

Now he was inside the garden party, and he looked closely at the tables. They each had a tablecloth on them that reached down to the floor, which was perfect. He saw one of them wobble, and smile. They were waiting for his signal. He skipped up to the podium where the hoity-toity garden-party types went to make speeches.

"Ladies _aaand_ gentlemen!" He shouted out. A lot of the guests turned to him, and when they saw who he was – well, more like how he was dressed – a lot of them wrinkled their nose in a way Cutler Beckett did rather often, or looked horrified. "I'm just here to say that there is an important announcement from Wiggywigs Ltd – and this is that you have completely bled them dry of wigs in your rush to get some for this garden party."

"Now, I know you may not think this is your fault, but those poor wigs spend a long time in training to become fully-fledged wigs, and some people buy a wig for a day and then never wear it again! This, ladies and gentlemen, must be stopped. It is a danger to the economy..." Oh yes. Jack Teague could talk about complete and utter garbage for hours on end.

"What _is_ this?" Asked one of the ladies, frowning and leaning towards the host of the party, none other then Weatherby Swann. He opened his mouth, and closed it again.

"You, boy! Get off the podium!" A man suddenly shouted out, stepping forwards.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... the piece de la resistance." Jack turned around, and mooned the assembled crowd of lords and ladies, some of which swooned.

----------

As all of this was going on, their attention captivated by Jack's charming speech and, uh, performance, nobody noticed that about five of the tables had started, well, moving. They started sliding across the floor, in the direction of the buffet. Underneath the tables, about a dozen ragged, filthy boys crept across the floor, using the to-the-floor tablecloths to their advantage.

A few of them sniggered when they heard Jack's speech. When they got to the buffet, they crawled out from under the tables and eyed the food, smacking their lips. Then they grabbed as much as they could, swiping entire plates and shoving them down their shirts or into various sacks.

"Ooh! Jelly!" One of them said, grabbing a handful and stuffing it into his mouth.

----------

Anamaria wandered into the back garden, where all of the kids had been shoved. She just had to stop them getting to the main garden, right? She glanced around the wide, open space, with the rolling green grass, the swings and see-saws. Then she bumped right into someone. She and Cutler Beckett stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh no, not you again..." Cutler muttered.

"Was that an insult?" Anamaria demanded, "And also, what happened to your clothes?" She gestured to his clothing, which had been rather ripped and ruffled by the fall he and Elizabeth had taken earlier. He frowned at her.

"What happened to your face?" He retorted.

"_What did you just say?_" Anamaria shouted, jumping forwards with her fists ready. Cutler Beckett looked from her fist to her face, and back again.

"_Aaaaaaarghh_!" He screamed, running away across the garden.

"You get back here, you!" Anamaria snarled, giving chase.

----------

The scruffy boys were about halfway back towards the gate underneath their tables when suddenly, the tablecloth was snatched off of one by a bewildered Weatherby Swann, who'd noticed what looked like a herd of tables migrating across the lawn.

"What are you doing down there?" He asked, confused.

"Run, boys!" Jack shouted from the podium, before leaping off, and scampering through the crowd of guests, zig-zagging as some attempted to catch him. "I'll go and get Anamaria!"

Pushing the tables over, the boys, food spilling out of their arms, ran for the fence, beginning to do crazy horse-jumps over them. Most of them had chocolate all around their mouths, and were laughing as the people sent their servants after them.

----------

"Yeah, I hate it when they do that," Elizabeth said to Will. They were both still sitting in the tree, and had been talking for quite a while. Will replied, but Elizabeth didn't hear, too perplexed as she saw a very odd sight.

"_Aaaaaargh_!" Cutler Beckett raced past under the tree.

"Just wait until I catch you!" Anamaria was close behind.

"_Ana_! It's time to go, we have the _food_!" Jack said, bounding along after them.

And behind _him_, a whole bunch of adults that had rebellion in their eyes were running, trying to catch the little boy who'd mooned them. All in all... it was quite an odd procession.

"What's gotten into _them_?" Will asked, watching them vanish around the corner of the house.

"I... have no idea." Elizabeth cocked her head. "Want to go get some ice cream?"

----------

"Cutler? What happened to your _face_?!" His mother shrieked. Cutler's face was patched with grass-stains, dirt, and he had a cut under one eye, and his clothes were completely ruined, also one of his front teeth was missing – luckily it had been a milk-tooth. However, he smiled at her triumphantly.

"This girl jumped on me and started beating me up! But don't worry, I got a punch right in her _eye_!" He said, excitedly.

He was sent to bed without supper for fighting with a girl.

----------

Eventually, Jack Teague managed to grab Ana and drag her outside, though she was still spitting about how she was going to skin 'that blonde kid' alive and then boil him in tar and _then_ stick him full of pins and then pound him into pulp and then after _that_ she'd...

As they sat in a back alley, sharing out the food, the boys were all talking with their mouths full of custard creams, sponge cake and apple pies, their excited blabbing and laughter filling up the alley. Ana looked strangely pleased with herself, though a black eye was beginning to form.

She got a pat on the back from Jack for beating up one of the 'nobs'.

----------

"Daddy! Can we have _another_ garden party soon?!" Elizabeth asked, excitedly. This one had actually been some _fun_! Not only that, but some girl had started punching Cutler Beckett, her nemesis! And not only _that_, but he'd had a tooth knocked out!

"I... maybe some other time." Weatherby Swann replied.

* * *

**NB:** Part two. Aaand end of garden party sequence.


	5. The Meaning of Life

**They Grow So Fast...**

Each character is eight years old. What would they say if you asked them what they wanted to be when they were older...?

William Turner: A blacksmith.

Elizabeth Swann: An explorer.

Anamaria: A performer.

Jack Teague: His father.

Cutler Beckett: King... king of everything!

James Norrington: Married to Elizabeth Swann.

Hector Barbossa: Rich.

Davy Jones: A taxidermist. (Okay, maybe not...)

Joshamee Gibbs: A landlord.

Ragetti: ...Dunno.

Pintell: ...Dunno.

Mercer: A baker.

End of this little interlude.

----------

Hector Barbossa stopped the man trying to get down the alley. He and a bunch of friends blocked the way down. The man looked around at them all, wearily.

"You can't come past here unless you pay," Hector said, with a smirk. He was quite tall and well-built as a child, and his other friends were all tough guys too, some of them even holding various bits of weaponry; nothing heavy-duty, of course, but in the wrong hands, almost anything sharp or heavy can be dangerous.

"But this is the only way to the _Shiny Buckle_," The man argued, thinking about how he was meant to be meeting his friends at the tavern. Hector leaned close to him.

"I know." He replied. With an exasperated sigh, the man dug into his pockets, pulling out a few coins, muttering under his breath about how it was that children on the streets had gotten so out of control. Hector ignored him, instead staring down at the coins now in his hand, a shine in his eyes.

_The meaning to life is... money,_ he thought.

----------

Will Turner hammered delicately at the sword, just small taps now, to help the shape along. He couldn't have one single flaw, one tiny mar on the sword he was creating. His face was streaked with ashes and sweat, the heat from the furnace working it's magic, but he ignored it, still going ever so carefully and slowly. He'd been working here for hours now. But it didn't matter.

He picked up the sword, examining it.

_The mean to life is... doing things right,_ he thought.

----------

Elizabeth pushed the chair across the floor with a scraping noise, stopping it just in front of the counter. Then she hopped onto the chair, and from that, stepped onto the counter. She wasn't, as such, meant to be in the kitchen. And she wasn't, as such, meant to be trying to steal the cookies. But Elizabeth didn't really pay much heed to silly rules like that.

Standing on tiptoe, she reached into the cupboard, pulling out a large jar. Scrambling with the top, she opened it with a hollow pop, and pulled out four chocolate chip cookies, stuffing one into her mouth instantly, and she shoved the cookie jar back in, the lid still off.

She walked back to the chair, leaving footprints on the counter-top, and then ran off out of the kitchen, leaving the cupboard door open and the chair still in it's place. She never was good at covering her tracks.

_The meaning to life is... independence,_ she thought.

----------

Cutler Beckett was watching his father commanding his troops around with a calculating look in his eye. He watched them marching in formation, their newly polished swords glinting in the powerful sunlight. His expression was impassive; he chewed his lip, deep in thought. His father bellowed out orders, and immediately they were followed, to a tee. _I'm going to be like that. No... I'm going to be better then that._ He cocked his head as they turned and marched again, out of sight, towards a mighty vessel.

_The meaning to life is... power,_ he thought.

----------

Jack was running again. He skirted around a building, and took off down the road, pushing people out of the way as he dashed. An angry shopkeeper was after him; no surprise, seeing as his prize turkey was now in Jack's arms. He went like a bullet, he knew the streets like the back of his hand, hopping deftly over patches of horse crap and slippery rain water gathered in the cobblestone road. The man behind him was shouting, _Thief!_

He grinned to himself, keeping a tight hold of the bird as he ran, ducking through an inn, rushing past the crowds of people chatting and laughing, even at this time of day, and then ran out of the back door, skipping around a group of children playing with a deflated ball, and then he was over a fence, through someone's back garden, and onto the pier. He slowed to a jog, tired, but happy.

_The meaning to life is... fun,_ he thought.

----------

James Norrington was sitting, cross-legged, on the grass, pretending to read a book, but really peering at the other children, one in particular. He was watching Elizabeth Swann. Watching as she laughed and joked with Will Turner. Watching as she played on the skipping rope with another gaggle of girls. Watching as Cutler Beckett pulled on her pigtail and she growled and jumped on him, trying to thump him, Beckett having learned his lesson about fighting girls helpless against her attack.

He cocked his head, wondering why it was that Cutler Beckett, a boy whom Elizabeth disliked strongly, got more attention from her then he did. He was quite a shy, timid boy; he guessed that added to it. But he couldn't help it. Mild-mannered, thoughtful and sweet at times, the little boy James only changed a little bit into his adulthood, though he did try to alter his quiet ways.

_The meaning to life is... Elizabeth Swann,_ he thought. But what he really meant was _love_.

----------

Anamaria was a hot-headed young lady, and she knew it. She didn't care, either. If someone was to disrespect her, she'd give them what for. It was only right, after all. When boys scrapped, she could easily beat up the lot of them, most of the time. So why was it that people refused to fight her, on account of her being a girl?

"What are you, chicken?" She taunted, as Jack Teague cocked his head at the challenge. "Buk-buk-buk! Yellow-bellied Jack – has a ring to it, don't you think?"

"Alright, you're getting it now!" He said, pouncing on her. She rolled with the blow, kicking him over into the gutter – he instantly recovered, and they rolled across the deserted street, kicking and fighting and laughing. Adults may tut – but it was only play fighting.

_The meaning to life is... equality,_ she thought.

----------

I wonder which one is true?

* * *

**NB:** Heh heh. This reminds me of the Monty Python song... Anyway. More randomness. 


End file.
